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Following Duke Gorlois’ breach of etiquette, King Uther’s flew into a rage and as spring broke there were words of war all across Logres. However, the year started in a more pleasant manner with Sir William’s birthday. As one of the notable knights of Salisbury, Sir William’s birthday was attended by most of the earldom’s movers and shakers, including Earl Roderick himself with his family. Many joyful moments were had by all, such as a falconry contest with the Earl that netted Sir Rhowain a beautiful white rabbit, which he stuffed into a bag along with his falcon. The finer parts of tending to one's falcon clearly escaped him. The Salisbury knights then went on to face a monstrous angler fish-like tower, which they defeated with the help of a talking donkey after vanquishing a pair of rascally rabbits that had stolen the donkey’s magical carrots. Or so the story goes. It was a strange day. Soon after the events of Sir William’s birthday, the call to arms came in the form of Prince Madoc. Salisbury was to be the staging ground for an invasion of Cornwall and King Uther had called all his vassals to meet there. The King however was furious and marched against Duke Gorlois with barely 1/3 of his forces, leaving the rest of the lords of Logres to catch up with the army. It soon became clear that Duke Gorlois had pulled his forces back to two strategic location, the castles Terrabil and Tintagel. The former held the majority of the Duke’s forces, ready to sally forth and attack Uther’s forces in the rear should they march on Tintagel, which held the Duke’s treasure and Duchess Ygraine, who some say was the root cause of the breakdown of the Uther’s and Gorlois’ relationship. The Pendragon left his son in charge of the siege of Terrabil with half of his forces (Including Sirs William, Reginald and Hilfbert) and led the other half (including Sirs Lavender, Rhowain and Tython) to Tintagel. One night the Duke led his forces in a surprise sortie against Prince Madoc’s forces and though the loyalist forces fought valiantly, Cornwall managed to slay Prince Madoc, leaving the land without an heir to the throne. Sir William avenged his liege and the castle was ultimately taken, but at a terrible cost. With the Duke’s death Tintagel surrendered to Uther. Although the Cornish Rebellion had been crushed, Uther’s spirit was broken with the loss of his son. Following the Duke's death, King Uther accepted the vows of loyalty from Cornwall’s former vassals, but decreed never to have another duke of Cornwall. Amidst the ensuing chaos however Sir Cador, the former Duke’s son, went missing along with a number of knights unwilling to bend the knee to Uther who’s estates were returned to the crown. Uther issued Sir Thebert of Marlboro as the castellan of Terrabil until a more permanent solution could be found, and placed most of the Salisbury forces under his command. The party partook in a hunting contest with their new commander, where Sir Hilfbert and Sir Tython met and almost were killed by a manticore. Much of the year was spent in and around Terrabil on patrol and putting down minor banditry, until Sir Rhisiart arrived to make everyone miserable. Eventually Uther and Ygraine declared that they would get married and the wedding would be held at Tintagel Castle. The night before the Terrabil contingent were to leave for the wedding, Sir Rhisiart talked the Salisbury knights into a drinking contest, after which they woke up in a forest. Through trials and tribulations and lots of hard riding they arrived at the wedding, but due to their uncouth appearance were one of the primary subject of gossip at the event. Many important lords and ladies of Britain were also at the event, such as the three daughters of Duchess Ygraine Margawse, Elain, and Morgan, and the northern kings Lot of Lothian and King Nentres of Garloth. The knights also made friends with Sir Alain de Carlion, a jovial knight of Estregales. While the Pendragon was preoccupied in Cornwall, King Aelle of Sussex was reinforced by further Saxons from the continent and began to raid Silchester once again. When winter arrived, gifts by Sir Thebert were plentiful and allowed the knights in his employ to maintain their stature. The knights of Salisbury were also granted two weeks to visit home and family, an event more joyful for some than others. Sir Rhowain and Sir Hilfbert returned home to find that their lands had been raided by men with blackened shields and that the manors of Pitton and Broughton were no more. Their misfortunes did not end there however, as Sir Rhowain’s new dairy farm had also been pillaged, with the cattle butchered or carried off. His wife did however give birth to a beautiful baby girl. Sir Hilfbert lost his wife and child in childbirth, leaving the pious knight grieving. The winter was harsh, with heavy snowfall and cold wind cutting to the bone. In their dreams, the knights saw terrors they could not name. Category:Years